The voters has firmly told Taoiseach Enda Kenny to go stick his message.

The only bright spot on the Fine Gael map is the southside of Dublin.

In the constituencies of Dublin Bay South, Dublin Rathdown, Dun Laoghaire and Dublin South West, the party is set to take two seats in each, off the back of a strong middle class vote. And in these case, Labour is being cleaned out, so the benefit of any coalition support is going Fine Gael's way.

Therein lies the problem: the economic stability strategy was too south Dublin-centric and wasn't in tune with the mood in the rest of Dublin or the rest of the country. The party's focus groups were finding Sinn Féin presence was a particular concern in southside Dublin.